HELP!! how do you get rid of a wild dog

HI, I have 17 cats and I love them all as if they were my children. All of these were strays I took in and I have everyone spayed and neutered. I have never had anything against dogs until now! For two months there has been a stray dog living in the woods close to my house. I use to let my cats out every morning and get them in at night, every time I would hear barking I would go out and chase this dog back to the woods. I think it stays here to chase cats. Two weeks ago I did not hear the barking in time and it killed one of my cats!! Since then my cats have stayed in, even though they are not very happy they are alive. We have made a cage trap, bought a gun but we can not get rid of this dog, every time it sees us it runs back to the woods. We live in the country and there is no animal control out here so we are on our own. I have checked around and no one claims the dog. Has anyone ever had a problem like this? Any help would be appreciated!

Hi, I wish there was but we are so far out in the sticks, there is no help. I was told I could call the police but since the dog stays hid in the woods I figured that would not do any good. This dog has been chasing my cats for two months and I thought if I kept the windows open and the tv off and listened for barking I could save my cats but two weeks ago I heard the barking and went running outside with my broom (the only weapon I had at the time) this dog had one of my cats in the road by the woods it hides out in. I screamed at it and it would not stop attacking, I yelled at it while I run to try and save my cat by the time I got there it had dragged my cat in the woods. I grabbed my cat and headed for the vet, it was still breathing but it was real cold, he tried to save it but there was nothing he could do. Thanks for trying to help! We are being held hostage by a dog!!!

You certainly have a lot of cats, and until you can trap the dog, you should keep all cats inside. Contact your local animal shelter and ask them if you can rent a humane dog trap. Bait the trap and wait. Expect to catch a few wild critters before you trap the dog. Do not handle the dog trap yourself once the dog is inside. He has tasted blood and that could go badly for you. Contact the animal control and tell them that you have the dog trapped- if animal control won't come out, call the sherriff's office.

Good luck with trapping the dog. What kind of dog is it? The dog probably doesn't know how to hunt for food on its own so it resorts to attacking your cats. That really sucks. Keep them safe inside. Let us know what happens.

To look at this dog you would think what a cute dog but it is a wolf in sheeps clothing!! It is about the size of a cocker spaniel with long white hair, maybe some kind of spitz or terrier or chow mix. When it first came here we were trying to catch it and used food to corner it in the dog pen, it tried to attack my husband and I, we both went running away from it. Since we tried that and failed, it is too smart to fall for that trick again. I have never seen anything as mean as this dog. Thanks so much for trying to help.

I was going to ask you if you thought maybe it was a coyote, but then I read your post about it being longer haired and white. I live in Virginia in the country, and a week ago, my husband took my dog outside before we went to bed (we dont let him go by himself..hes a siberian husky, and they are known to do their own thing.) and there was a coyote in our yard. We contacted out local game warden, and he told us that they are in the area, and that they have reports of attacks recently. One man in New Kent was on his riding lawn mower, and the 50 pound coyote attacked him...it had rabies. The game warden informed us to keep the dog inside (which we do, unless hes with us) and the cats stay inside anyways.Maybe call your local sheriffs office, the non-emergency number and tell them that the dog attacked your cat, and almost you and your husband, and you feel hes a danger to young children. Maybe they can direct you to the proper place to contact.Good luck!

Diane has a good suggestion.
If you call the sheriff or animal control or better yet both, and tell them that this dog has attacked a human as well as another animal, they would be more likely to react quickly.

Good luck.
If its truly a feral dog (are there any other neighbours you are sure don't own this dog???), then cats surely are not its main food supply..

The rescue folks around here that trap dogs use either a humane trap large enough for the dog or a pole with a catch rope on the end. They lure them in similar to cats - feed them in a set position (such as back in the woods where the dog hangs out) and place the cage nearby. Work the food closer to the trap each day until they eat inside the cage. You may want to tie the door of the trap open for a few days until it is totally comfortable eating inside before you set it to spring.

Even though you don't have a formal animal control, you may be able to find a small group in petfinder.com. Do a search for dogs by your zip code to see what groups are close to you. Contact them and see if they have a trap you can borrow. If you are willing to pay for a spay/neuter, they are more likely to help you.

Both of my dogs came from a mom that had been running loose for 2 years. They tried to trap her with no success and finally got a vet to come out and dart-gun sedate her. She had 11 puppies at the time - 2 of them live with me and the mom tamed up and lives permanently with her foster mom. Dogs that are dumped can go somewhat feral like a cat but very often come around with some TLC.

If you are concerned about the dog's life, don't call the sheriff - they will simply shoot the dog. It sounds like a scared dumpster dog that is trying to learn to live on his own.

To look at this dog you would think what a cute dog but it is a wolf in sheeps clothing!! It is about the size of a cocker spaniel with long white hair, maybe some kind of spitz or terrier or chow mix. When it first came here we were trying to catch it and used food to corner it in the dog pen, it tried to attack my husband and I, we both went running away from it. Since we tried that and failed, it is too smart to fall for that trick again. I have never seen anything as mean as this dog. Thanks so much for trying to help.

Where are you? What did AC say? Do they have access to a trap that would work? Fill me in on some of the particulars. Please take careful note of the advice from the others as they are getting you good information. Whatever you do, make sure YOU DO NOT PUT HANDS on this dog. One word - RABIES - it bites you and gets away, you get shots... or you die!

I don't understand people that let their animals outside to roam at will. If you take on the responsibility to have an animal then you are responsible to keep it with you or indoors at all times. The solution to your problem is to keep your cats inside, not roaming outdoors from morning to night free.